The present invention relates to a print control method and apparatus and a medium in a system including both a printer and an information processing apparatus such as a personal computer.
Recently, a job accounting system for counting the number of sheets used for each user and performing accounting or the like on the basis of the data is being available for a network-connected printer.
In this system, a variety of print forms from applications are available. Only one print job is transmitted to a printer in a format in which different paper sizes and different paper types are mixed.
In conventional job accounting systems, countable data are only basic items such as the number of sheets, and detailed counting processing cannot be done for various print jobs. Accurate accounting fails when, for example, accounting is done based on count information.
The present invention has been made in consideration of the above situation, and has as its object to perform detailed counting processes coping with various print forms from applications, and to provide a print control apparatus and method and a print system capable of accurately performing accounting or the like based on detailed information.
To achieve the above object, the present invention has the following arrangement.
A print control apparatus for performing counting processing for a print job comprises
a generation unit for generating print job information in accordance with a designated print setting on the basis of data to be printed, and
a counting unit for counting the number of sheets to be printed for part of the print job information to which the print setting is common.
The print setting preferably includes double-/single-side information.
The print setting preferably includes paper size information.
The print setting preferably includes paper type information.
The print setting preferably includes information about the number of sheets discharged when a plurality of pages are printed on one sheet.
The print setting preferably includes information about the number of copies.
Document information preferably includes color/monochrome information.
The print control apparatus preferably further comprises a transmission unit for transmitting information about the number of sheets counted by the counting unit to a counting server.
Alternatively, an information processing apparatus having a job accounting function comprises
a generation unit for generating a print job in accordance with a designated print setting on the basis of data to be printed, and
a counting unit for counting the number of sheets to be printed for each block of the print job to which contents of the print setting are common.
The information processing apparatus preferably further comprises a transmission unit for transmitting the contents of the print setting and the number of sheets to be printed for each block to an external device.
The print setting preferably includes any one of single-/double-side setting, paper size setting, paper type setting, color/monochrome setting, setting of the number of copies, and setting of the number of pages to be printed for each sheet.
The information processing apparatus preferably further comprises a setting unit for setting use/non-use of the job accounting function.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference characters designate the same or similar parts throughout the figures thereof.